Indonesia Revokes Land Rights of 11 Firms After Fires
Indonesia has revoked or is reviewing land-use rights held by 11 companies linked to forest and land fires, with outcomes varying across five groups.
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia — Indonesia has moved to revoke or review land-use rights held by 11 companies linked to forest and land fires, a decision that could reshape plantation operations across Kalimantan, a major agricultural region on the island of Borneo. The government has divided the companies into five groups, with outcomes ranging from full revocation to further field inspections.
Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Minister Nusron Wahid announced the action on Monday, Nov. 9, following a recommendation from the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency chief. The companies operate in South, West and East Kalimantan. Some have investors or shareholders from South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore, as well as Indonesia.
The companies named are PT MIB in South Kalimantan; PT RKA, PT SKM, PT SAE, PT PSLT, PT BOS, PT AER, PT ANI and PT API in West Kalimantan; and PT JMS and PT STP in East Kalimantan.
Full revocations and expired rights
The first group comprises companies facing full revocation because fires repeatedly occurred within their licensed areas, burned more than half of the land, and the companies lacked facilities and infrastructure to mitigate fires. It includes PT MIB, whose concession covers 4,000 hectares; PT RKA, with 11,000 hectares; and PT SKM, with 7,000 hectares.
PT PSLT, which holds 2,300 hectares, falls into the second group. Its land-use right expired in 2020, Nusron said, and the state will take over the land.
Applications canceled, partial revocation pending
The third group covers firms that hold plantation business permits but have not received land-use rights. The government will cancel the issuance of rights for PT ANI, covering 5,000 hectares; PT BOS, covering 4,000 hectares; and PT AER, covering 5,000 hectares. The Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Ministry will recommend that the Home Affairs Ministry and relevant local governments review the companies’ plantation permits.
In the fourth group, the government will revoke only part of a company’s land-use rights where the burned area accounts for less than half of the total licensed land. PT SAE, in Landak district, West Kalimantan, is in this group and holds 1,510 hectares. The extent of the revocation will depend on the fire-affected area compared with the total land covered by its rights.
The government has not yet decided whether to revoke all or part of the rights held by the final three companies: PT STP, PT API and PT JMS. Physical inspections and measurements are still underway. “We are conducting a deeper review to determine whether the revocation will be total or partial; we are carrying out physical inspections in the field and measuring the available data,” Nusron said.
